Guest Voice of Alyssa Andrews: Why I support same-sex marriage

By ALYSSA ANDREWSContributing writer

May 15, 2014 12:01 AM

By ALYSSA ANDREWSContributing writer

May 15, 2014 12:01 AM

In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that laws denying same-sex couples the right to marry violated the state constitutional protection of equal rights. Due to this ruling, several states then defined marriage as being between a man and a woman, essentially banning same-sex couples from getting married. Pennsylvania was among the states that approved such a statute.

Since 2004, 17 states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage. Pennsylvania is not one of those states.

Marriage equality bills pending in the Pennsylvania Legislature, House Bill 1686 and its companion bill, Senate Bill 935, would amend Title 23 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to define marriage as "a civil contract between two people who enter into matrimony." This would allow same-sex couples to get married in the state.

According to a 2014 study by Pew Research's Religion and Public Life Project, Americans opposed same-sex marriage by a 57 percent to 35 percent margin in 2001. Today, a majority of Americans, 54 percent, support same-sex marriage compared with only 39 percent who oppose it. The tides are turning. Recognition of same-sex relationships is becoming more prominent and gaining more support than ever before.

Without marriage, same-sex couples face a wide range of economic disadvantages. The cost of living today can be demanding. For same-sex couples, the cost of living dramatically increases to thousands of dollars more than that of heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples lose certain Social Security benefits -- spousal, survivor and death benefits -- and employer-sponsored health care.

Same-sex couples face additional expenses for estate taxes (heterosexual married couples are exempt from estate taxes); childbearing (the legal expense of second-parent adoption); lost income from spousal pensions and individual retirement accounts; additional costs to file separate income-tax returns; and the costs to prepare legal documents that attempt to assure protections automatically afforded to those in heterosexual marriage.

The job market can also be trying at times if sexual orientation is an issue or if a job does not offer benefits to same-sex couples. In Pennsylvania, there is no law protecting lesbian, gay or transgendered individuals from employment discrimination. Companies such as Google, Apple, Verizon, Walt Disney, Viacom, Nike, Morgan Stanley and Microsoft have come out in support of same-sex marriage. These companies also support equality, believing that a job should use an employee's skills rather than causing them to worry about stigma and inequality.

For many reasons, I support same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage would benefit Pennsylvania by helping the economy, creating jobs, allowing same-sex families the stability and benefits that go along with marriage and promoting nondiscriminatory ideals.

In an economy in which everyone is considered equal, denying two people the right to marry based on sex is unconstitutional and immoral. Same-sex couples work hard to achieve the same rights as heterosexual couples. All we want is the chance to have a family and build a career just as those of heterosexual orientation.

My grandmother always taught me that if you believe in something, you fight for it, although it won't always be easy.

We've been fighting for decades for equal rights. It is time for Pennsylvania to stand on the side of equality and make that change. After all, our country was built on change.

ALYSSA ANDREWS works as a narcotics treatment counselor. A 2012 graduate of Mercyhurst University, she is currently attending Edinboro University of Pennsylvania for her master's in social work and is working toward obtaining her license as a certified addictions counselor (aa132047@scots.edinboro.edu).